INSIDE SOCCER.

The Fire played host to the Los Angeles Galaxy last Saturday at Soldier Field, then faced the Galaxy in suburban Los Angeles late Wednesday night in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

"It has the feeling of a playoff series," Fire coach Bob Bradley said.

It could be a preview of September. The Fire and Galaxy would meet in the first round if the standings stay the same.

Arrests: The European season has hit its first milestone: English fans have been arrested abroad.

German police arrested 13 fans of Premier League club Leeds United in a beer garden in Munich before Leeds' Champions League qualifying match against 1860 Munich, according to Reuters news service. The fans chanted "Heil Hitler" and raised their arms in a Nazi salute. It is against German law to make a Hitler salute or display any Nazi propaganda.

Leeds defeated Munich Wednesday to advance to the next round of qualifying for the European club championship tournament.

Two Leeds fans were killed in Instanbul earlier this year while clashing with fans from Turkish club Galatassary.

Chip in: The fan club of the MetroStars, the Empire Supporters Club, collected $250 and tried to send it to the league office to pay the fine of MetroStars defender Mike Petke.

Petke was fined for writing "The Crime of the Century" and "Revenge is coming" on his undershirt and then displaying it Sunday. The slogans were a reference to an incident between Tampa forward Mamadou Diallo and MetroStars goalkeeper Mike Ammann. Ammann suffered numerous injuries in a collision with Diallo and could be out the rest of the season.

MLS Executive vice-president Ivan Gazidis informed the club that the league doesn't accept third-party payments of fines. The club donated the money to charity.

High-priced talent: An "intermediary" offered the MLS $3 million for Dallas Burn forward Ariel Graziani to join Argentine club Independiente. Gazidis said the club will have to raise the offer if it wants the Ecuadorian striker.

"The value we place on Ariel is greater than that and I think he's made himself irreplaceable to this league and perhaps even more importantly irreplaceable to the Dallas Burn," Gazidis said.

That was good news to Dallas coach Dave Dir.

"[The fans] feel they have a special player [in Graziani] and they want to come see him," Dir said. "The challenge to this league is to make sure we have those types of players in any city."